


the men in this town (live and die)

by signifier



Series: The Chronicles of Los Santos [10]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: FAHC, Heist Shenanigans, the tale of six vagabonds, this is a huge meme
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-07
Updated: 2019-05-07
Packaged: 2020-02-27 10:34:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18737290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/signifier/pseuds/signifier
Summary: Six men stood round a table, blueprints laid out and weighed down at the corners with three mugs of coffee and one cup of tea. It was an easy enough heist - steal a priceless necklace from a jewellery store and get out before the LSPD started breathing down their necks. It was a particularly high class area of Los Santos, so a simple to follow, nothing-could-go-wrong plan was in need.“Let’s all swap gimmicks.”-Prompt for my fellow Brit TJ in the RT Writing Community! I hope you like it buddy <33





	the men in this town (live and die)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Waffle-o (XylB)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/XylB/gifts).



When people think of a heist they think of flashy suits and even flashier get away cars. They think of tension, of a harsh voice yelling commands over the whip of a bullet. It’s Los Santos - they shouldn’t expect any less. 

However, this is not how the Fakes came to power. 

The Fakes came to Los Santos in a blaze of laughter and daring. They had heists with no escape plans and no weapons - they even completely free-styled once, but all decided that one was a bit too dangerous. 

It was the confusion they liked, the delayed reactions of officers due to shock, the absolute chaos that came with every news article. If it brightened the city and entertained themselves, you can bet they’ve done it. 

Which leads us to the present day. 

Six men stood round a table, blueprints laid out and weighed down at the corners with three mugs of coffee and one cup of tea. It was an easy enough heist - steal a priceless necklace from a jewellery store and get out before the LSPD started breathing down their necks. It was a particularly high class area of Los Santos, so a simple to follow, nothing-could-go-wrong plan was in need. 

“Let’s all swap gimmicks.” 

Surprisingly, it was Michael’s voice that jumped from ear to ear and broke the serious atmosphere that had been created. 

He shrugged when five faces continued to stare at him. “This place has been serious for far too long.”

Gavin’s squark of a laugh rang out in a single note accompanied by the clap of his hands. “Top! Whose who?”

“I’m the Vagabond.” 4 voices spoke in unison. 

“You’re too lanky to be the Vagabond, Gav.” Geoff spoke up, arms crossed as he watched the inevitable chaos that was soon to be their plan start to form. 

Gavin rounded on him, arms flailing as he gestured wildly to the rest of the crew. “Me?! Jeremy’s half the size of Ryan! Michael doesn’t have the right build either and Jack’s too f-“

He cut himself off, but Jack hadn’t missed the beginning of the word. The older man stepped forward, blunt amusement clear on his face. “Too what, Gavin?”

“Uhh, just-“

“Yeah, Gav, why couldn’t Jack be the Vagabond?” Jeremy cut in, clearly picking up on the joke. 

“I think you’d be great, Jack. Truly terrifying.” Michael clapped Jack on the shoulder, a shit eating grin on his face as he watched Gavin gawk at them all.

Ryan, who’d been silently watching this exchange and wondering how his shtick had ended up the centre of the conversation, ran a hand down his face and sighed. 

Geoff clapped a hand down on the Vagabonds shoulder. “What do you think, wanna give us some makeup tips?” 

“It’s not makeup.” Ryan began, but was quickly drowned out by the four other voices that picked up on the easy bait.

“Does it have to be a skull or can I have, like, a butterfly?”

“I’m thinking just a full face of blue.”

“I reckon the Rimmy Tim colours would look great.”

“Maybe I’ll do glow in the dark and have it come out of the eyeholes.”

Geoff grinned at the chaos he’d created, knowing Ryan would like nothing more to dispose of them all and find a new crew elsewhere. 

“This is going to ruin my reputation.” Ryan mumbled, lifting his mug and allowing the blueprints to curl up at the corner.

 

-

 

Surprisingly, this heist was one of their most successful.

It was the confusion that did it. Having six Vagabonds meant the LSPD saw one of them at every turn. 

Ryan dove undercover, the familiar pump of adrenaline drowning out the fear that came with the rush of a bullet past his head. This was his favourite part. He liked the start of a heist, when the feds first show up and think they have a chance. He liked the cocky remarks and the generous pull of the trigger before both sides started to value their ammo. He lived for the disappointment on the cops faces when he danced just out of their reach. 

A body crashed down next to him and though he couldn’t see their face under the leather mask, Ryan had no doubt they were grinning. You’d think it would be easy, telling apart the crew despite their identical outfits, and sure, up close he could pick them apart from their breathing patterns but it wasn’t quite as easy with bullets raining down from every angle. Despite this, there was no mistaking those tattooed hands. 

“You seeing this shit? They haven’t got a clue what’s happening!” The glee in Geoff’s tone pulled a low chuckle from Ryan, both of them checking their clips and ducking lower as another round was sent their way. 

“This’ll be one for the books.” 

“And to think you were against this whole idea.” 

Ryan shrugged. “I’ll admit it has a certain..dramatic flare that I can appreciate,” he nodded his head to the left, “which one of us is that?”

Hiding behind one of the LSPD’s cars was another Vagabond, rising up on occasion to shoot back at the cops that had him pinned down. From this distance it could have been any number of the crew. 

Geoff leaned forward, glancing around Ryan to get a better look. “Gavin, maybe? Or Michael.”

They took some time to sit back and watch their friend, pistols heavy in their hands as they ignored the chaos that surrounded them. The figure eventually pulled out an object, throwing it over the car and running in the opposite direction as an explosion rang out seconds later. 

“Michael.” They confirmed in unison. 

A shower of metal rocked the car they were up against, smashing a window and sending glass down on their heads. Geoff shifted his position, getting ready to move. 

“I’ll go right, you take the left.” Ryan nodded in response, dropping back into his serious heist mode as he too turned to find another cover. He felt a clap on his shoulder, heard the running of feet and then he was moving, the wind drowning out all other sounds as it whipped past his ears. 

The heist ended pretty quickly after that. 

Jack took a bullet to the shoulder, Jeremy almost took a knife through his throat but there was always a Vagabond there to get them out of trouble. Gavin had lost his mask at some point and whilst the face-paint did well to cover who he was, the wild blonde hair was a bit of a give away. 

They escaped in a range of vehicles, Michael and Jeremy piling into the front of a truck whilst Jack gave the LSPD hell from the back. Gavin and Geoff ended up together on a fast looking bike and Ryan stuck to the alleyways, running in circles until he was sure he wasn’t being followed. Being on foot, Ryan was the last one back to the penthouse.

It was odd, walking in and seeing five Vagabonds scattered around the room. There was once a time where he wouldn’t have shared this with anyone, would’ve tracked down whoever dare imitate him and make sure there wasn’t even fingerprints to identify them by, but somehow these five idiots had wormed their way into his life and made even the Vagabond a part of him that he didn’t mind sharing. Everyone had shedded the masks, face-paint smudged from sweat and struggles with the feds. 

“Solid success, that.” Gavin grinned, hands on his hips as he looked around the room.

“Says the one who wasn’t shot.” 

“It’s just a scratch, you’re fine.”

“Just a-“ Jack began, half rising out of his seat before wincing and lowering himself back down, voice dropping so only Jeremy beside him could hear. _“I’ll give you a scratch.”_

Michael turned as Ryan entered, a grin on his face that leaked adrenaline. “There he is - the OG. You have fun?”

“If you call destroying my image fun, then yeah, I had fun.”

Geoff clapped a hand down on his shoulder, an action that Ryan realised was starting to become a trend, and squeezed it reassuringly. “Relax. Everyone’s terrified of you, this won’t change a thing.”

Despite the warm hand weighing down on him and the familiar grins that came from around the room, Ryan wasn’t so sure. 

 

-

 

_ Two Weeks Later _

 

The rest of the crew were in the middle of an intense game of Ultimate Chicken Horse when Ryan walked in, pulling off his mask with a huff. 

Geoff was quick to pause the game, frowning as he stood and approached his friend. “What happened? They didn’t take the deal?”

There was a mumble of a reply that Geoff couldn’t quite make out, the rest of the group crowding round to hear too. 

“Don’t flub, Ryan.” Michael teased. 

The older man closed his eyes and sighed, a pained expression crossing his features before he spoke up once more. 

“They didn’t think I was the real Vagabond.”

The silence that followed held a cautious humour in it’s noise, nobody wanting to be the one to break it.

“Apparently I’m ‘too tall’.”

It was Jack that laughed first, spit flying as he spluttered and doubled over, a hand coming up to wipe away tears from under his glasses. Gavin followed fast, leaning heavily on Michael who was stuck in a silent laugh with his eyes squeezed tightly shut. Geoff was the loudest of all of them, a contagious cackle that had even Ryan fondly rolling his eyes at the situation. Jeremy had so far been able to keep his composure, though the twinkle in his eye showed he was close to cracking too. He moved round, reaching up and clapping a hand down onto Ryan’s shoulder. 

“Don’t worry, we’ll send me next time.”

The sound of Ryan’s groan was drowned out by the laughter that engulfed the room.


End file.
